Direction-indicator



M T. McINTYREP DIRECTION INDICATOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR. zonuszoh RENEWED JUNE 7. 92l.

1,385,21 9. Patefited July 19, 1921.

A TTORNEVS UNITED STATES mim cs 'r. MOINTYRE, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 19, 1921.

Application filed larch 20, 1920, Serial In. 367,375. Renewed June 7, 1921. Serial No. 475,836.

To all whomitma concern:

Be it known t at I MAURICE T. McIn- TYRE, a citizen of the llnited States, and a resident of the cit of New York borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Direction- Indicator, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in vehicle attachments, and it pertains more particularly to a direction indicator for vehicles.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which may be readily attached to and detached from motor vehicles without materially changing the structure of any of the parts of the vehicle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device of this character which will be illuminated whereby it may be seen at night.

It is a further object of the invention to so construct a device of this character that when the device is in its display position, the light will be automatically turned on, and when in the hidden position, the light will be automatically turned off.

Referring to the drawings- Figure 1 is a view of the front portion of a motor vehicle, showing the position of the device thereon and the manner in which it is secured to the body of the vehicle;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in section and showing the wiring diagram;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fi 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of F ig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference character 5 designates the vehicle, and 6 and 7 designate the upper and lower sections respectively, of the vehie18 windshield. The sections of the windshield are supported from stanchions 8 suit ably carried by the vehicle body, and it is to these stanchlons 8 that the present invention is preferably attached. The reference character 9 designates a bracket secured by means of a ring 10 to one of the stanchions, and 11 designates a bracket secured by means of rings 12 to the opposite stanchion of the windshield.

Carried by the left-hand stanchion 8, is a housing 9, and this housing 9 has its bottom wall open as indicated by the reference character 13; The top wall of the housing 9 is inclined as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and pivotally secured within the end walls of the-housing, is a rod 14, and said rod is so carried by the housing as to becapable of a rotary movement with respect thereto. Rigidly secured to this rod and adapted to swing from a horizontal position within the housing, in which position it is invisible, to a vertical position beneath the housing, in which position it is visible, is a member 15 in simulation of a human hand. By this construction, it will be seen that as the rod 14 is rotated in the end walls of the housing 9, the hand 15 is moved to either the visible or invisible position, as desired.

Suitably mounted on the cowl of the vehicle, is one or more brackets 16, and these brackets form the bearings or supports for a transversely-extending rod 17. This rod 17 is connected to the rod 14, as indicated by the reference character 18, in such a manner that as the rod 17 is rotated in its bearings, the rod 14 will likewise be rotated. In lieu of having these members connected as shown, it is to be understood that the rods 14 and 17 may be integrally connected, or may consist of but a single rod, if desired. This rod 17 is provided with an operating handle 19, preferably in the form of a right-angular extension rigidly secured to the rod, and said operating handle 19 forms the means by which the rod is moved in its bearings.

The reference character 20 designates a light of the electric incandescent type, and leading from said light are two wires 21 and 22, the former of which leads to a battery or other suitable source of supply 24. The other wire 22 leads to the terminal 23 of one of the members 25 of a knife switch, and adjustably carried by the operating handle 19, is the other member 26 of the knife switch. Leading from the opposite terminal of the battery 24 to that terminal to which the wire 21 is connected, is a wire 27 and said wire 27 is connected as at 28,

to the knife 26 of the knife switch.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that as the rod 17 is rotated in the bearings through the medium of its handle 19, and the hand 15 moved to the vertical position shown in Fig. 2, the knife 26 of the knife switch will pass between the members 25 and will thus complete a circuit from the battery 24 to the lamp 20 to illuminate the hand 15. Upon returning the hand 15 to the horizontal position, the knife 26 of the knife switch passes out of engagement with the members 25 of the knife switch and thus breaks the circuit to the lamp 20 and extinguishes the light.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides for signaling the contemplated direction of movement of a motor vehicle, and that provision is made for efiectively obtaining this result either in daylight or in darkness.

Having thus described the invention, what 15 is claimed is:

A direction indicator comprising a stationary housin of substantially rectangular form rigidly secured to the forward portion of a motor vehicle, a shaft extending transversely of the vehicle and having one of its ends projecting into said housing, an indicating member carried by that end of said shaft which projects into the housing, said indicating member lying normally in a horizontal plane to close the lower open side of said housing, and means for rocking said shaft to swing the indicating member to vertical display position on the exterior of said housin AURICE T. MCINTYRE. 

